Addressing soldiers at "Havat Hashomer" army base this morning (Tuesday), Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman described his vision for the IDF, emphasizing the importance of a citizens' army comprised of the Jewish People and, conversely, the unsustainable nature of a so-called "multicultural" army.
"Nobody is cancelling the 'melting pot' [of the Israeli Army]," Liberman said, responding to leftist criticism leveled against him after his recentcancellation of IDF volunteering with illegal infiltrators from Africa.
However, he qualified that the IDF cannot accommodate "any multiculturalism. We have seen the results of multiculturalism in Belgium," he said, presumably in reference to the correlation between increasing Muslim populations in Belgium - and Europe in general - and increasedterrorist activity.
"The condition for the existence of the Jewish People and Jewish State is a citizens' army. Goals such as multiculturalism and a professional army are unattainable. The IDF needs to stay within the greatest possible consensus. There were arguments about my approach, my vision, and I was surprised to see that the IDF was dealing with controversial issues."
Clarifying, he said, "I am talking about illegal infiltrators. First of all, they came here illegally. This is the most controversial issue in Israeli society today, and there is no way that the IDF can be mixed up with it."
